Some Lung Cancers Are Associated with Viruses
At the European Lung Cancer Conference in Geneva, Switzerland (25th April 2008) research was presented that demonstrated new evidence that some common human viruses may be a part of the cause of lung cancer.
Scientists agree that tobacco smoking is by far the most important contributor to lung cancer development. It is also emerging that other factors may play a role in some cases.
Dr. Arash Rezazadeh from the University of Louisville, Kentucky, presented the results of a study on 23 lung cancer samples from patients in Kentucky.
Scientists found 6 specimens were positive for the human papilloma virus (HPV). The human papilloma virus causes many cases of cervical cancer. One lung lesion was later shown to be a cervical cancer that had spread to the lungs.
5 out of 22 non-small-cell lung cancer samples were human papilloma virus-positive. This finding supports the theory that human papilloma virus contributes to the development of non-small-cell lung cancer.
All patients in this study were also smokers, Dr. Rezazadeh notes. “We think HPV has a role as a co-carcinogen which increases the risk of cancer in a smoking population,” he says.
In another study, Israeli doctors presented data to suggest that measles virus could also be a factor in some lung cancers. Their study included 65 patients with non-small-cell lung cancer, of whom more than half had evidence of measles virus in tissue samples taken from their cancer.
“Measles virus is a ubiquitous human virus that may be involved in the pathogenesis of lung cancer,” says lead author Prof. Samuel Ariad from Soroka Medical Center in Beer Sheva, Israel. “Most likely, it acts in modifying the effect of other carcinogens and not as a causative factor by itself.”
